Arthur Koestler, the Jewish author of this book, is a highly respected scholar and presents his case convincingly. His thesis is that the majority of those who call themselves "Jews" today are in fact not of substantial descendence from the biblical Israelites. They are largely the progeny of a group of people known as the "Khazars" and the Zionist movement has been responsible for promulgating the Ashkenazi Jew myth. Naturally this book will receive considerable opposition from those who wish to perpetuate the belief that the Ashkenazi Jew is more favoured by God than other peoples. Koestler takes a brave and bold stand for the truth and must be commended for this.

I might add that Koestler writes in a very engaging style - the mark of a good author. This, however, does not take away from the scholarly quality of the work, as some reviewers have mistakenly imagined.

It continued my journey into learning about the Khazarian royalty that I could be descended from.

When this book came out it caused a big controversy although I'm not quite sure how anybody could rationally critique what Koestler put forth here. I don't think any sane human being that knows how to read could say that the good bulk of the European/Eastern European Jews are descended from the biblical Israelites. Koestler documents how these European Jews came out the Khazar tribe of southeast Russia/Khazakistan who even back then were a mixed race people mainly of Turko-Armenian type racial stock with some Asian, that later mixed with other various peoples. It really strikes me as odd when Jews like to refer to themselves as a race, which is a card they like to play when its to thier advantage, when there are Jews from literally every race on the planet. I mean you have the stereotypical Ashkenazi type Jew, the middle eastern/Sephardic type of Semitic Jew, but you also have Asian Jews, the African Jews who are an Ethiopian/Somolian racial type, many of the Jews with ancestry that came out of of Germany are indistingguishable from blonde haired blue eyed nothern Europeans (the Jewess actress Alicia Silverstone or the actor Kirk Douglas are good examples), there was even some South American Indian tribe that called themselves Jews that were allowed to immigrate to Israel a few ago. So my point being, to call the Jews a race, or to say that there is any chance that any but a tiny percentage of them have even the slighest chance that they have some lineage with the Jews of the old Testament is ludicrous. If they want to call themselves the chosen of the Yahweh demon thats their own business I suppose but when fables and historical falsehoods are used as justifications for global political maneuverings that more often than not have seriously negative ramifications for the majority of the people on this planet then I begin to have a problem with it.

Koestler also documents the whole process of conversion of the Khazars to Judaism, which from my research seems mainly to have been a political/economic move because of the Khazars land being right in the middle of a major trade route between the middle east and Europe. Because there was often crusades and warfare between the Muslims in the middle east and the Christians to the north the Khazars chose a religion that would allow them to play both sides of the card and not have to choose sides when problems arose. You also get a lot of interesting general history of the area that the Khazars came out of using various sources, in particular Ibn Fadlan who is best known for his writings on the Viking Rus that were in that area during the time he was. Overall this is one of the better books you can read if you are studying Ashkenazi Jews.

Koestler, and other Khazars, who have the courage to come forward and expose the fraud perpetuated by our corrupt education system, main stream media and bogus religious institutions, deserve a special place in whatever the here after has to offer.

Arthur Koestler has been subject to much vilification since the publication of `The Thirteenth Tribe', which sets forward the thesis that the majority of Jews today are not of Semitic origin, but should be traced back to the forgotten Khazar Empire. I think that much of this is justified regarding Koestler's racial conclusions, but not on the bulk of his chronology of the Khzaria.

The central argument of `The Thirteenth Tribe' is that the bulk of modern Jewry can be traced back to the seemingly unheard of Khazar Empire, which flourished during the 8th century, before gradually disintegrating in the 10th century. Koestler details the rise of this nomadic nation, and the eventual difficulties produced from being settled between the Christian Byzantine Empire on the West, and the Islamic powers to the East. Refusing to be dominated by either the Roman Emperor or the Caliph of Baghdad, as well as motivations by an onslaught of Jewish refugees, Koestler details the unusual decision taken by the Kazhar nobility to convert to Judaism. The eventual defeat of this power is chronicled, as is the dispersal of the Khazar Jews throughout the world.

The rise of the Khazars is certainly well documented, as is the conversion of the upper-classes to Judaism. Less documented by Koestler is the evidence for the lower classes following this example, or the substance supporting the conversion of the nobility having any real significance on the genetics of Ashkenazi Jews. Considering Jewish Koestler was an atheist, and taking note of his stated desire to seperate modern Jewry from both the 'Chosen People' and 'Christ-Killer' label, it seems apparent that he was less than objective in formulating his theory; something that is seen clearly in the chapters attempting to describe the racial attributes of Jews.

However, `The Thirteenth Tribe' is certainly a provoking read, which should interest anyone curious in Early Middle Age political manouving.